The thrill of a knockout win made UFC Fight Night 31 headliner Tim Kennedy miss being a soldier more than he might have imagined.

As a crowd of men and women in uniform roared outside the cage following his first-round stoppage of Rafael Natal (17-5-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC), Kennedy (17-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC), a former Army Ranger and sniper, said he wanted to run into the crowd and never come back.

If another war breaks out, he might not be able to restrain that impulse.

“If a war kicks off, absolutely, for sure, positively,” he said when asked if he might ever return to the military.

Kennedy said his success at Wednesday’s event prompted an outpouring of guilt about leaving the service. After knocking out Natal with 20 seconds to go in the opening frame, he leapt onto the cage and tried to apologize – not that the soldiers needed consoling.

“There was a lot of ‘I love yous’ and ‘I’m sorry I left you’ and ‘I’m embarrassed to be in here’ and ‘please forgive me for leaving you,'” he said. “There was just a lot of that kind of sentiment.”

“UFC Fight Night 31: UFC Fight for the Troops 3” took place at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and benefitted the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which aids combat vets who suffer traumatic brain injuries. The event’s main card aired live on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on MMAjunkie.com.

Kennedy wanted to headline a UFC event in front of the troops so badly that he ignored a torn quad muscle he suffered a week beforehand. He said the injury occurred when he dodged a woman while running on a track and unsuccessfully tried several remedies, including lathering himself in Bengay, to aid the healing process.

In the cage, however, Kennedy said the pressure of competing for the UFC in front of the troops against a Renzo Gracie black belt was nerve-racking.

“I had to wait for the crowd to stop cheering because I was afraid to emotionally commit to something and not do it for the right reasons,” he said. “They’re screaming, ‘Ranger up! Ranger up!’ And I want to start throwing overhands and blitz the guy. I was waiting for them to stop, and they didn’t stop. Then they started cheering ‘U-S-A!,’ and ‘Kennedy!,’ and I was like, ‘For the love of God.’

“It had a negative effect of me because I was waiting and apprehensive. If there was any amount of pressure that could be put on a single fighter for a fight, I can’t think of a situation that would be more stressful than this.”

But that made the finish all the more emotional for the 34-year-old fighter, whose lackluster UFC debut against Roger Gracie made him an underdog in the eyes of UFC President Dana White, who picked Natal to win.

“Nick Palmisciano, the owner of (sponsor) Ranger Up, he was in my corner with me,” Kennedy said. “I hop over the cage, and the dude’s crying. This is a dude from West Point, big Ranger tough guy, and 100 percent overwhelmed with emotion. He was as emotionally connected to this event as I was. He had the same stresses as I did. He had to put up with me being skinny and a little bitch the whole entire time, so it’s way overwhelming.

“When I’m walking through the auditorium, a guy would walk up and be like, ‘You’re my hero,’ and I’d want to start crying, every time. I was like, motherf–kers, stop doing that. You’re getting me. Stop.”

Despite the release of emotion, Kennedy said the event was a “drop in the bucket” for the support of injured soldiers. Thus far, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund has raised $14 million toward research and treatment of TBI. But the fighter said he is “just getting started” with his efforts to help his military brethren.

His stock, meanwhile, is on the rise after the impressive knockout. But Kennedy said he doesn’t deserve to fight the division’s best. A middle-of-the road option sounds better.

“I’m not going to call anybody out right now,” joked the fighter, who’s never been shy about using social media to aid matchmakers. “I’m going to wait until I get back to Twitter and Facebook. Then I’m going to fire relentlessly.”

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